Efio-Ita Nyok|31 March 2017
On the 24th of March I published the fifth in my series of article on the sacking of the former financial czar of the University of Calabar (UNICAL), Mr Peter Agi, titled: 'What ex-Bursar Peter Agi misconstrued about my employment of the '276 staff' —VC Zana Akpagu' http://www.negroidhaven.org/2017/03/what-ex-bursar-peter-agi-misconstrued.html?m=1 in which I posited that the University of Calabar (UNICAL) had saved no less than N35 million by employing a staff of '276' between 1st December 2015 and 6th June 2016. This position was challenged by a prominent Cross Riverian in the diaspora whose name I will leave out here. This publication is informed by the need to demonstrate how the University saved the sum of N35 million.
In the second paragraph of the said publication I had made the point that, 'In this present article I will be exploring the ignorance dimension that may have characterised the official activities of Agi, a quality of ignorance that had monumental negative implications on both his principal office as Bursar and the entire academic institution, that is, the University of Calabar'. I made attempts to vitiate the claim by Mr Agi, the sacked Bursar of UNICAL that the current Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Zana I. Akpagu, was unable to pay emolument to staff of UNICAL because of the budget shortfall of N38.2 million.
In a memo dated 23rd August 2016 addressed to the Vice-Chancellor of UNICAL from the then Deputy Bursar (Payroll) of the said institution, Mrs. B. I. Igwe (who is incidentally the incumbent Bursar), with subject title, 'List of Delisted Staff from Payroll', the names of 152 staff were captured who had been deactivated from 'payroll as result of death, retirement, dismissal, and non-renewal of contract appointments from 1st December 2015 to August 23, 2016'. The netpay of these delisted 152 staff was N24,688,319.50 while their gross pay was N29,719,923.36.
Recall that in his 2nd December 2016 letter to the Honourable Minister of Education, former Bursar Agi had submitted that the monthly emolument of the new 276 staff was N38.2 million whereas in his 20th January 2017 rejoinder, VC Akpagu argued that, 'In our financial analysis of deceased staff, retired, dismissed and those who transferred their services, the University also saved N35 million. This therefore means that the University in the final analysis has not incurred any substantial additional cost from these employments'. The outstanding from the difference between N35 million and N29,719,923.36 arose from the evening up of the financial fortunes of the academic institution which the VC underscored as in the 'final analysis'.
The Vice Chancellor further reiterated this to the Honourable Minister of Education when he submitted in categorical terms thus: 'As a responsible Accounting Officer of the University, I have taken step to employ responsibly and the Federal Government led by His Excellency, President Mohammadu (sic) Buhari would take credit for improving the employment figures and indexes. Employment is not a crime Sir, especially if we can pay!'.
It's quite disturbing how these realities eluded the former Bursar. Hmmm!
Efio-Ita Nyok
Is a social commentator
